Actor eyes a new role
The week's news at a glance.
Washington, D.C.
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, now an actor starring in NBC’s Law & Order, said this week he is “going to leave the door open” to a run for the Republican presidential nomination. Thompson, 64, who served in the Senate from 1994 to 2002, has supported President Bush’s Iraq war policies, and served on the board of the legal defense fund for former vice presidential aide Scooter Libby. Thompson first gained prominence as chief minority counsel of the Senate Watergate committee. It was under his questioning that former Nixon aide Fred Butterfield revealed the existence of a secret taping system in the Oval Office.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The most anticipated movies of 2026The Week Recommends If the trailers are anything to go by, film buffs are in for a treat
-
The biggest viral moments of 2025In the Spotlight From the Coldplay concert kiss cam to a celebrity space mission, these are some of the craziest, and most unexpected, things to happen this year
-
Environment breakthroughs of 2025In Depth Progress was made this year on carbon dioxide tracking, food waste upcycling, sodium batteries, microplastic monitoring and green concrete